Midnight Rendezvous
by Hejin57
Summary: H.E.A.T returns, and new mutations follow!  This time, the team investigates Arkansas after hearing reports of a giant centipede-like mutation.  But will this new creature be more than a match for Godzilla?  Plus, a computer hacker chases love!


**Hey party people!**

**Well, I must say that it feels good to write something new. Usually it's anime or cartoons, but this time I decided to tackle something from a series I just recently finished. Yes, I find this series awesome, mostly because of all the references to the original Japanese Godzilla and his foes. Also, I can help but like the characters. They are surprisingly well-written for a children's cartoon.**

**So here's my little tribute to the wicked awesome giant monster show that could have gone for maybe one more season. This would technically take place as an episode in Season 3 if there had been one, and it may or may not be followed by sequels. All I know right now is that this is going to be a three part story, and it's going to have some emphasis on Randy and Monique's "relationship". I find it quite amusing and cute.**

**But enough of me rambling. Enjoy the beginning of this unraveling tale!**

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_ ~~~ Hejin57 Presents ~~~_

** ~~~~~ Midnight Rendezvous ~~~~~**

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**Part 1**

The farmer's eyes seemed to open as if commanded by instinct. Something big had awoken him from his slumber. Sitting up in bed and rubbing his forehead, he looked towards the window, over the pleasant form of his still sleeping wife.

The entire house rocked and creaked. It was almost as if an earthquake had struck, if only for a split second. Donning a hat and arming himself with the shotgun kept under the bed, the disgruntled farmer made his way downstairs as quietly as he could.

He could hear the sound of pigs squealing and horses neighing loudly even before he got outside of his house. Frowning, the farmer tightened his grip on his shotgun. The barn up ahead was shrouded in the night. His visibility was terrible, and on top of that, he had forgotten his glasses.

As he approached the barn, he could hear the sound of wood breaking apart as something huge shuffled within its confines. The cries of livestock grew louder.

"Hey! I don't know who you are, but if you think I'm letting you run off with my livestock, then you got another thing comin', friend!" the farmer exclaimed as he turned the corner. He pointed his shotgun at the perpetrator, but his grip slackened as he realized that thing in front of him was clearly far from human.

There was a high-pitched screech as the farmer's eyes widened in fear. Falling backwards, he could only shiver and stare up at a serpentine shape that was in the process of dragging off one of his prized sows. The thing hissed at him loudly, before it turned tail and disappeared through a nearby cornfield with its next meal in tow.

Shaking madly, the old farmer did not even take the time to look at the damage that the creature had inflicted on the barn his father before him had built. Instead, he got onto his feet and ran back to the supposed safety of his house.

He could have sworn that he had heard another inhuman screech following him. Shutting the door behind him and never looking back, the farmer leaned against the door and buried his head in his arms. He could only pray that the light of dawn would come earlier than usual.

* * *

Almost halfway across the country, a computer hacker and a scientist attempted to push through their mutual fatigue as another day for H.E.A.T began.

Mendel Craven yawned as he gave N.I.G.E.L a daily checkup, while Randy Hernandez stared up at the ceiling while attempting to stay awake.

"Man...no work for the G-Man today and we still gotta be up at the crack of dawn?" Randy stated.

"Oh please. If 8 AM is your version of the crack of dawn, then your life must have been full of laziness before all our mutation hunting." Craven replied as he delicately checked N.I.G.E.L's internal systems. He only wished that he could see if Randy had tampered with the robot's personality before it was too late.

"Is it such a crime for a guy to sleep well into the afternoon? This genius noggin needs some serious rest you know." Randy exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm sure." Craven said sarcastically as he closed N.I.G.E.L's head compartment. It was then that the robot shook violently before spinning around as if it was malfunctioning. Stopping in front of Craven, it pointed one of it's red clamps at him in an almost accusing manner.

"**HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!**" the robot yelled in a strong Austrian accent. Furrowing his brow, Craven didn't hesitate to get up in Randy's face.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your juvenile hands off N.I.G.E.L!"

Randy grinned up at the disgruntled scientist, "I've lost count by now. Ain't it great?"

"What a wonderful start to another wonderful day. I can see the in-laws are trading compliments as usual." Elsie said as she entered the lab, with Dr. Tatopoulos and Monique following her. Craven backed away from Randy and pretended to continue working on N.I.G.E.L, while Randy just continued spinning in his chair. Of course, his eyes were no longer on the ceiling, but on his self-professed French angel. His spinning stopped as Monique grabbed the chair and proceeded to have it facing her. Randy grinned again even though he knew it might only make the situation worse.

"I see you're as radiant as always, mon cheri."

"Do not even start. I am not in the mood." Monique replied coldly, before grabbing a surprised Randy by the collar and lifting him out of her personal chair. Somewhat shaken, the hacker just smiled to himself, relishing the hard to get game that Monique was always playing. It never seemed to get old.

"Nice to see that everyone's shown up, because we've got another possible mutation on our hands. I've been informed that there's been some sort of creature attacking livestock in Arkansas. A local farmer says he's even seen the creature with his own eyes." Nick began, and as expected, he had easily gotten the rest of H.E.A.T's attention.

"Another day, another mutation. I wonder what kind of nasty it'll be this time." Randy commented.

"Hopefully something nonviolent? At least towards people?" Craven said, but all eyes turned on him and suddenly he felt very uncomfortable, "Oh..never mind me. Of course that would be too good to be true..."

"Violent or nonviolent, it does not matter. I will do what is necessary." Monique stated as she stood up from her chair. Judging by the serious expression on her face and the fact that her fists were almost clenched, it seemed obvious that she was ready for anything. Randy couldn't help but admire such a trait.

"We will do what is necessary. And that may or may not involve putting the creature out of commission." Dr. Tatopoulos added.

"Not everything needs to be char-broiled, French Fry." Elsie added. The French woman and the redhead seemed to have a momentary glaring match, which frightened Craven and amused Randy. Dr. Tatopoulos motioned the team to follow him. He didn't want to make it obvious, but he was feeling very impatient today for some odd reason. He could only theorize in his mind that it must have been caused by Audrey-related stress.

"Let's get going, people. This mutation isn't going to take care of itself." Nick announced, and as the members of H.E.A.T followed him out of the lab, N.I.G.E.L's voice boomed behind them.

"**LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!**"

"Sometimes I wonder if giving N.I.G.E.L the ability to speak was a bad idea..." Craven said as he shut off the lights to the lab and waited for N.I.G.E.L to come through the door after him.

* * *

"Looks like that animals sure must have had some party..." Randy exclaimed, hoping to get a laugh and lift some tension from the current situation. Monique gave him an annoyed look, and he figured that was good enough.

H.E.A.T had been surveying the damaged barn belonging to the Sullerman residence for the last few hours. The barn in question looked like it could have been hit with a wrecking ball, if that wrecking ball had also been capable of shredding through wood along with crushing it. The surrounding land was disheveled, and Elsie had been trying to figure out what kind of creature had caused all this damage. She was busy with the tracks it had made through the dirt and grass, while Mendel has N.I.G.E.L scanning the wrecked barn for any possible biological samples.

"So did you get a good look at the creature, Mr. Sullerman?" Nick asked, but the old farmer seemed very hesitant to answer. He had been very hesitant to even allow H.E.A.T onto his property in the first place.

"I don't really want to know what I saw. It wasn't something friendly, I can tell you that." the farmer responded, and the fear in his voice was obvious. Dr. Tatopoulos turned his attention back to Elsie, who was brushing away excess grass to get a better look at the tracks on the ground.

"Any idea what we might be dealing with?" Dr. Tatopoulos asked her. Elsie seemed deep in thought, rubbing her chin and lightly touching the tracks one more time before giving Nick a response.

"I'm not exactly sure. It's strange...the tracks clearly belong to some sort of centipede. The way they're spaced and the sheer number of them point in that direction...but there's something peculiar about them too."

"Peculiar? Could we be dealing with another hybrid? Maybe something related to the mutation we encountered in Indiana?""

Elsie shook her head before standing back up and clapping the dirt off her hands. "Negative, Nicky. I thought I knew what it was at first, but then I realized how impossible my conclusion was. All I can really pinpoint right now is that we're dealing with an unknown arthropod of immense proportions. Hopefully N.I.G.E.L can procure some samples from the destroyed barn. With those, I can get a much more precise picture of exactly what we're dealing with."

"So I assume the creature has been identified?" Monique asked, surprising both Dr. Tatopoulos and Elsie with her presence. The French agent was nearly up to her limit with Randy and his attempts at wooing her, despite how tempting they sometimes were. Nevertheless, she was more focused on the mission at hand more than anything else.

"Not yet, French Fry. I hope you're not in a rush to exterminate this one. It might be awhile till we actually track it down." Elsie replied, with her tone of voice making it clearly obvious that she was somewhat trying to piss Monique off.

"I am not to think you are wasting time, non? How do you say...fooling around." Monique accused, but Dr. Tatopoulos put himself in the middle before Elsie could fire back any venomous words.

"Calm down, you two. The last thing we need is more arguments. Come to think of it, all of us have been on the edge recently and frankly, I don't like it."

Craven's eyes widened in excitement as N.I.G.E.L's scanners picked something up among the barn's wreckage. The robot quickly made its way back to him, and in one of its more delicate clamps was what looked like some sort of shell fragment. Delicately, Craven put the scale into protective plastic, before hollering about the discovery.

"Hey guys! N.I.G.E.L's found something!"

"He has? And I thought we were going to be here all week. Three cheers for the robot!" Randy exclaimed. Craven was not amused by his joke, as usual.

"Hmmm...this looks interesting." Elsie said as she gave the fragment a quick look, "Whatever this belongs to, one things for sure; it's definitely an invertebrate. I'll do some analysis on this exoskeleton sample and see what else I can discover about this creature. Nice work, Craven."

The scientist couldn't help but blush at the compliment, much to Randy's amusement, "Oh...thanks. It was nothing really..."

"So I'm guessing now's when we call the G-Man and have him smoke the oversized creepy crawly ?" Randy wondered, but his attempt to be upbeat didn't phase past Dr. Tatopoulos.

"We don't know enough about this creature to go after it yet. Our best bet right now is to sit tight and wait for it to make another appearance. If we can catch it red-handed, we might be able to subdue it before it can cause anymore significant damage. For now, I'm going to hold off on calling Godzilla." Nick replied, but his response to Randy's statement seemed to blow a fuse in Monique.

"I detest agreeing with Randy, but he has a point. We find the creature now and strike when it is caught off-guard. It could only be a matter of time before it develops an appetite beyond livestock." she stated, hoping that her sensibilities would actually pierce the American doctor's mind for once.

"Attacking blindly will just jeopardize the situation further. Let's just get back to the Heat-Seeker and call it a day. If the creature appears again tonight, then we'll think about calling Godzilla. Until then, I think some of us are in need of some downtime."

As Dr. Tatopoulos finished, the French agent crossed her arms. She couldn't help but feel disappointed in his decision, as per usual. Randy noticed her bad mood almost immediately, and gave her a thumbs up and a grin in an attempt to cheer her up.

Monique didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he had any effect on her, but even her cold-heated demeanor couldn't completely resist that attitude of his. Still, she couldn't ignore what Dr. Tatopoulos was suggesting.

"Some of us need this so-called downtime," Monique said under her breath, "I am not one such person, doctor."

* * *

It was at a time like this, when the Heat-Seeker wouldn't stop rocking back and forth, that Randy wished Nick had arranged for them to stay in a nice hotel. Between the ship's constant movement, the strange smell that seemed to emanating for the waters of the Mississippi River, and Craven's snoring just a cabin away, Randy didn't expect to get a lot of sleep tonight.

As he tossed and turned in the cot, Randy's mind jumped from topic to topic, eventually stopping on the most popular one; Monique. The hacker still didn't know if he playing the game of love right with her, especially considering how she treated him most of the time.

Still, he definitely didn't imagine that kiss back when they were dealing with Maximillian Spiel and his monster battle royale. So there was still hope. Why was he thinking so much about it anyway? There was still a whole world of girls waiting for him, and he wasn't Craven's age just yet.

Was he really ready to say that Monique was the greatest catch of them all?

Unfortunately for Randy, his mind wasn't given the chance to answer that question. The sound of someone knocking a heavy object over alerted him almost immediately, and he bolted out of his cot and up a flight of stairs towards the upper part of the Heat-Seeker.

Peeking around a corner, Randy could see a dark shape moving around ahead. It almost looked as if it was rummaging through the equipment near the main controls of the boat, but Randy couldn't be exactly sure due to the low lighting. Not once to take chances however, the hacker decided he was going to take matter into his own hands.

Holding a flashlight in one hand, Randy made a daring leap at the intruder, and he actually managed to bring whoever it was to the floor. He wrestled against strength much greater than his own, but managed to get his light on the intruder's face.

All it showed him was the surprised face of Monique as she realized it was Randy that had actually overpowered her, if only for a mere moment.

"This is some sort of joke, non..." Monique said in embarrassment, but Randy felt more amused by the situation more than anything else.

"It could also be a dream come true. I'm certainly not complaining." Randy said with a grin, but his comment only earned him a strong kick to the stomach, which knocked him off Monique and onto his back a couple feet away.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't interfere, Randy. Go back to sleep and...how do you say...don't let the bed bugs bite." she told him, but her command seemed to have the opposite effect, furthering a growing curiosity in him.

"I'm not sleeping anytime soon, you can be sure of that.", Randy replied as he turned on a nearby light, revealing the fact that Monique had already put on a skin-tight scuba suit.

"You look ready to go for a swim." he stated with a smile.

"I am doing what Dr. Tatopoulos should have done earlier today. I am going to find this mutation and do what is necessary. Unlike some of you, I have my priorities straight." Monique shot back in a cold tone.

"Count me in then. I'm always up for monster hunting with a hot babe by my side."

Monique's temper was beginning to flare the more Randy challenged her authority, "You will only be a liability. Go back to sleep, Randy."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. I wonder...Jefe! Somebody's sneak-" Randy attempted to finish, but Monique's hand was over his mouth and he could feel her breath on his neck.

"You are not to say one word, understand? And in return, I will change my decision and allow you to join me."

"That's my girl." Randy teased, but Monique grabbed him roughly by the collar and stared him down with a fierce look in her eyes. The color drained from his face, and his smile quickly disappeared, replaced by a much more worried expression.

"I just hope you realize that I have no obligation to protect you. If you become food for a gigantic beast, so be it." Monique told him bluntly, leaving Randy to wonder if that was her version of a mean joke or if she was actually being serious.

"Oh...that wouldn't happen. The G-Man's got my back. He'd come if we were in any real danger." Randy said, but his voice was clearly unsure.

"You really want to believe that, oui? I suggest leaving your fantasies on this boat and accepting the harshness of the real world for once." Monique replied as she began to put on her diving flippers.

Quietly obtaining a diving suit from a nearby closet, Randy couldn't help but feel discouraged at Monique's words.

"Leave my fantasies on the boat...there goes all my fun." Randy mumbled under his breath as put one leg into the diving suit and pulled up. Though he was excited about the prospect of this little mission with Monique, he couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the whole idea...

* * *

"Okay, I gotta be honest. I've been having a bad feeling about this whole idea since we got out of the river." Randy said as he looked down on his scanner, wondering when the blip they were looking for would show up already.

"Then you should have stayed back on the boat." Monique replied as she made her way up the large, grass-covered hill. Randy followed suit, checking his watch, only to find that it was nearly midnight. It had taken them a good hour to get from the Heat-Seeker to where they were now. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

When they got to the top of the hill, Monique pulled out a pair of binoculars and surveyed the landscape. She assumed something that Elsie had probably figured out at the scene; there was a good chance the creature could be nocturnal, based on the fact that it had yet to be seen during daylight. The French agent hoped that she could take it out quickly with the firepower Randy was lugging along, but her arrogance was still affecting her thought process. She had an urge to prove Dr. Tatopoulos wrong more than anything else.

"Nothing ahead. Any sign of the creature on the scanner?" Monique asked, but Randy just shook his head as he tapped the screen with his finger.

"I got zilch over here. Maybe it's busted or something. This is Craven's work after all." Randy suggested, but his attempt at another joke fell flat. Monique just put her hand on her forehead and wondered if it would have been a better idea to leave Randy behind and risk Nick finding out about her excursion.

"I've checked the surrounding area, and there's another farm residence nearby. If the creature has a similar feeding pattern, we might be able to ambush it while it's attempting to get its next meal." Monique stated, and a click accompanied her statement as she turned off the safety on her energy rifle.

"Lead the way." Randy replied, and the French agent nodded at him before going into a full sprint towards the cornfield ahead. Not wanting to get left behind, Randy ran after her. The bag on his back felt heavier with every new step. He really wished he wasn't the one carrying all the equipment in this venture.

After ten minutes of running, Randy finally got the luxury of stopping when he could see that Monique had come to a halt up ahead. Catching his breath, Randy looked around to see that the two of them were now deep into the cornfield. Smiling a bit as relished this momentary rest, Randy couldn't help but try to lift the stagnant mood.

"So this isn't exactly my idea of the most romantic spot in the world, but...beggars and can't be choosers." he began, but before he could say anymore, Monique put hand on his mouth, silencing him.

"Calme! We are not alone..." she whispered, and as Randy checked the scanner, his eyes widened as it showed a large red blip right next to their position. The loud sound of corn stalks cracking was accompanied by the even louder sound of shuffling not far from where Randy was standing. Backing away from Monique, the expression on Randy's face made it obvious that he wasn't really in the condition to play hero at the moment.

Unfortunately, he didn't back up much further, instead bumping into something hard behind him. Falling backwards, Randy watched as a large shape spiraled up from the cornfield. Monique could see it to by now, and the creature in question was a mottled red color that seemed to almost stain the moon behind it. As Monique pulled Randy to his feet, the creature looked at the two of them in curiosity, large antennae moving erratically in the air as they attempted to identify the two smaller human beings below.

Finally, the creature let out an inhuman screech, but by this time it was obvious to Monique that it did not come in peace. Letting loose a volley of shots from her rifle, the laser only ricocheted from the creature's armored shell. It screeched again, and it's legs made sickly cracking sounds as the thing's entire body descended towards the two humans.

"You sure that's not going to just make it angrier?" Randy asked in a worried voice, but Monique just kept her sights on the gigantic arthropod.

"It very well may. But Godzilla is not here to save us right now."

"Perhaps I should have stayed back in the boat." Randy exclaimed, wondering to himself if this was one of those times for a cheesy last kiss with the female heroine. He figured it was a bad idea, since what might happen to him afterward if they did make it through this might be a fate worse than death.

"Indeed you should have." Monique said, before taking aim and the approaching creature's face and making her shot. At such a close range, it was going to be the difference between living another day or finding themselves being consumed by this monstrous vermin.

And strangely, Monique couldn't help but feel she should have been nicer to Randy, because these could very well be the last moments they spend together...

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**Hopefully you enjoyed the first chapter to this three-part tale! Stay tuned for the next part!**


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